He also worked with and obviously admired Raymond Scott, as The Chesterfield Arrangements will attest. In 1938, for his "Eighth Experiment in Modern Music" (a series that began in 1924 with the public premiere of Rhapsody In Blue), Whiteman commissioned large orchestral arrangements of three Scott tunes: "Mexican Jumping Bean," "Bumpy Weather Over Newark," and "Suicide Cliff." These were performed, with the original Scott Quintette, at Carnegie Hall on Christmas. Besides the RSQ, this spectacular showcase included Artie Shaw, Louis Armstrong, and dozens of jazz and Tin Pan Alley legends in their prime, performing works by Ellington, Gershwin, W.C. Handy, and others. The 1938 concert proved to be the "Experiment" series finale.

Five arrangements from the 1938 concert—including the three Scott titles noted above—will be recreated at the Berklee School of Music on May 5. The concert is part of a day-long tribute to Whiteman.

An afternoon forum, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie Hall gala, will include 94-year-old saxophonist Al Gallodoro (who performed at the '38 concert) reflecting on his Whiteman days. A young Gallorodo is pictured above with the legendary bandleader.

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We have a collection of vintage and contemporary arrangements of Raymond Scott’s works. These charts are not commercially available, but we provide them in pdf format at no charge to interested musicians, conductors, bandleaders, and academic groups. We have arrangements for piano, sextet, and/or small orchestra (12-15 parts), as well as several larger arrangements, some unusual instrumental settings, and some basic lead sheets. You can download your favorite titles here.